


Hero for the Day

by Firekitten



Category: RWBY
Genre: 100 Days of Taiqrow, M/M, Mostly just harmless cuteness in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 10:16:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19249144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firekitten/pseuds/Firekitten
Summary: Huntress, the new family dog, has gone missing. Qrow doesn't particularly care - so why is everyone acting like it's all up to him to find her?





	Hero for the Day

**Author's Note:**

> A little gift for Father's Day for my two favorite men!

His first drink was just being placed down when his scroll rang. Qrow sipped the first glorious sip of the high-quality scotch as he eyed the ID. As he answered it, he was fully expecting to hear Tai’s bubbly voice.

When all he got was his blubbering niece instead, he went into high alert. “Ruby? What’s wrong?”

“Uncle Qrow, I can’t find Huntress!” She sniveled out.

Relief swept through him and he rolled his eyes. “Ah, I’m sure she’s around kiddo. She’s too fat to get far.”

They had only gotten the overweight, two-year-old corgi a few weeks ago and she was already trouble – which was exactly what he had warned Tai about. But his partner had insisted, saying it would be a good addition for their family. He even roped his own kids into the excitement, and Qrow was a little weak when it came to being triple-teamed with puppy-dog eyes. So they adopted the over-yeasted loaf of bread and within three days she’d already peed on the rug twice and chewed through his nicest pair of dress shoes.

He could certainly say that if she’d actually run off that he wouldn’t be the least bit upset.

But for an eight-year-old, it was the biggest crisis of her life. “I looked everywhere! She’s not in her bed. Or anywhere in the kitchen! What if she’s stuck somewhere?”

_Maybe we need to look for holes in the flooring._  Qrow had to take another drink so he wouldn’t laugh. “Well, she’ll come out of hiding if you pour her food.”

“I already tried that! She isn’t anywhere!” Ruby wailed. “Yang said she probably got out when daddy brought in the groceries! You have to come home and help me find her before a Grimm eats her!”

Oh no. No way. He didn’t put up with a week’s worth of teaching classes with the brattiest students in all of Patch to NOT enjoy his Friday drinking night. “A Grimm’s not going to eat her Ruby. She’ll come around when she’s ready.”

“You don’t understand, this is a matter of life and death!! You’re a huntsman, you gotta save her!”

He fought the urge to sigh but was spared from having to come up with anything to say when he heard Tai shout in the background, “Ruby, you know you’re not supposed to take my scroll without asking!”

“Tell Uncle Qrow he has to come home soon, okay?!” Her demand grew faint as the device was taken from her.

He must have been covering the speaker, because his voice became muffled. “I will. Now go get into your coat and then we can go looking okay? Yang, help her out will you!” His voice came through a lot clearer as he pulled the phone to his ear. “Sorry Qrow. She’s really devastated.”

“You don’t say.” He said, swirling his glass so the ice would clink together.

“I can see you’re torn up about it too.” He quipped sarcastically.

“Utterly brokenhearted.” Qrow assured.

“In that case, I’m sure you’re just rushing on over here then, aren’t you?” Before he could even open his mouth to argue, Tai was adding, “You know it would mean the world to Ruby if you were here.”

Damn him. He sunk a bit in his chair, grumbling, “That was low man.”

Tai’s only response was a jovial, “See you soon! Love you!” And then the call was ended.

Qrow sighed, quickly downing the rest of his drink and leaving the money on the table. As he headed out of the bar, he was tempted to call up Oz and blame him for not warning him he’d have to worry about puppy patrol duty. Not that his old Headmaster would do anything more than laugh at his misfortune.

He hurried down the alley, taking to the sky, intent on finding the little menace as soon as possible so he could get back to his night.

* * *

Qrow couldn’t help but wince as the slam of the girls’ bedroom door echoed down from the second floor.

Nothing. Three hours of searching, and there was nothing. He’d even used the skills he’d been taught for hunting deer to try and figure out which way the dog had run, but there were no imprints in any of the soft soil of the forest or the sandy spots around the house. It was as if she’d just disappeared into thin air.

That only left one actual possibility, the one he’d reassured Ruby couldn’t have possibly of happened: that a Grimm, likely a Nevermore, had swooped down and snatched the dog up when she got into the yard. He would say that should have been impossible with such a short timeframe to work with and there having been a Huntsman not even twenty feet away; but with his semblance around, such improbable things suddenly became a lot more likely.

A sniffle drew his attention to the living room where Yang and Tai were.

Tai knelt so he could hug her. “You okay, sweetie?”

“Yeah. Just sad.” Her words where muffled against his chest.

“I know.” He rubbed her back. “But, hey! Let’s not lose hope yet. It is really dark. How about first thing tomorrow morning, we go looking again? We’ll be sure to find her when it’s light out.”

“No.”

“No?” Tai echoed, looking down at her in confusion.

She pulled away from him, rubbing her fists into her eyes. “Things don’t come back when they go away.”

Qrow sucked in a sharp breath, and when his partner looked up at him, expression practically pleading for help, he finally spoke up, “Yang, that’s not true.”

She looked towards him. “Then where’s Huntress?”

“I- well. We’ll find her.” Now it was his turn to plead for help.

“Yeah, we will!” His partner jumped in as he placed a hand on her head. “Who knows, she may even be home in time for breakfast.”

Yang didn’t seem very convinced. “Okay. I’ma go check on Ruby.”

“Alright honey.” Tai stood, watching her scurry up the stairs. Once she was well out of earshot, he ruffled his hair agitatedly. “Fuck.”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, snipping as he headed for the kitchen, “I told you this was a bad idea.”

“Qrow - come on now.”

He heard the other’s footsteps as he followed him but didn’t bother to slow down. He snatched a beer from the fridge and stepped out onto the porch. The moon above was bright, illuminating the yard and the faint chirping of crickets echoed from the surrounding forest. He lent up against the railing, twisting off the cap of the bottle and chugging half of it. Tai shut the door behind them, coming to stand beside him. He expected him to say something – reassure him with that boundless optimism he always tried to carry – but he stayed oddly silent. Somehow, that was even more annoying.

Qrow slammed the bottle down, grunting, “Why’d you even have me come back, huh? What good did that do?”

Tai folded his arms over the railing, glancing sideways at him. “You know, you are  **so**  stupid sometimes.”

“Uh,  _what?_ ”

His ire didn’t even seem to make Tai twitch. “Why do you think the first person Ruby thought to call when she was having a problem was you?”

 “Uh, I don’t know?” He shrugged. “‘Cause more of us looking means more chances to find her?”

He snorted. “That’s some impressive logic for an eight-year-old. But no.” He turned to face him, leaning his hip against the rail. “It’s because you’re her hero Qrow.”

Qrow felt like someone had just jabbed a crystal of lightning dust right into his back. “I am?”

“Yeah. To her, there’s nothing you can’t do.” He laughed, looking up at the sky. “I even heard her tell Yang once that she knew you could put back together the moon if you weren’t so busy saving everyone else.”

He followed his gaze, smiling faintly. Her hero, huh? He remembered having one of those when he was her age. How he’d ask every adult in the tribe for just one more story about the Grimm Reaper or how his mother had used the last of their spare fabric one winter to sew him a cape. He knew it wasn’t quite the same as the cloak she was said to wear, but it had been big enough to pretend with when he was smaller.

His smile weakened, then fell.

He also remembered when those stories stopped. How his father finally told him the hero he thought was undefeatable had been killed. It had flipped his worldview upside down, showing him the unkindness lurking just outside their wooden walls.

He picked up his bottle. “Yeah well, eventually she’s going to figure out that stuff ain’t true.”

His partner laughed softly. “Of course she will. That’s all part of growing up.” He shoved his shoulder slightly. “But kids need someone to look up to; someone to strive to be like. You certainly wouldn’t be the same without your hero, right?”

Qrow rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I guess so. But I’m not exactly a role model.”

“Only in some ways you’re not.” Tai gave a pointed look at the beer before focusing back on him. “But right now, Ruby can only see all the good things about you. So, instead of being a Pessimistic Perry about it, try and hold onto that for as long as you can, and appreciate it while it’s there.” He turned away, expression unusually somber, “After all, it doesn’t last forever. And once it’s gone, it never really comes back.”

He rolled the bottle around on the rim of its bottom end, feeling like he was missing something as he tried to decipher that look. “Do-” He had just started to ask, when a soft crying had him changing tracks, “Do you hear that?”

Tai lifted his head some, both of them staying very quiet.

And there it was again – an insistent and high-pitched whining coming from below them.

They shared a wide-eyed look before leaping over the railing. As they crouched down to look through the latticework that was supposed to close off the underside of the porch, Qrow took out his scroll and flipped on the flashlight. It took a moment of searching, but eventually he spotted movement and paused the beam on it.

“Oh my gods!” Tai breathed, his smile near manic as it spread across his lips.

Sure enough, Huntress was there, tucked away against the wall where the foundation of the house met the ground. And she wasn’t alone – four little bundles were curled up by her belly, squirming occasionally. They were the ones making all the racket.

“Guess she wasn’t fat after all.” Qrow snorted. Just their luck they’d get a _pregnant_ dog.

Tai felt along the wood, probably debating where to break through it. “I wonder how she even got under there? Do you think we’ve got a hole somewhere?”

_Or she made one._ He thought with a snicker, trying to get a better look at the pups. They were mostly just blobs of color – three brown and one black. “Maybe we should just pull up the floorboards?”

“Yeah, that might be smarter. I’ll go get the tools.” The blond bounced to his feet, his liveliness renewed. He jabbed him lightly in the arm when he stood up next to him. “As for you, I think there’s a little girl upstairs waiting for her hero to come save the day.”

“Ah, come on.” He shoved him back, though dutifully climbed up the porch steps, convincing himself he was only doing it to stop all the rampant waterworks. He paused before going inside, chuckling secretively when he caught the excited little hop Tai performed as he sprinted for the shed. It was hard to tell if he was so happy because they had actually found the dog or because they now had four puppies they were stuck with raising.

Ah, who was he kidding. It was absolutely the puppies.

Qrow crossed through the house, scaling the stairs to the second floor until he was standing in front of the girls’ bedroom, hearing their faint whispering. Just as he was about to knock, Tai’s question pushed its way through his head again.

Why _had_ Ruby chosen to call him when her dad was right there?

The more he thought it over, and coupled it with Yang’s practical, almost too grown-up reasoning, the more the picture became clear and his partner’s somber expression began making more sense.

At least he knew how to make it go away, even if only for one night.

Qrow pulled open the door. “Ruby, Yang! Get out here. You won’t believe who your dad just found!”

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone is wondering, yes, that little black puppy is meant to be Zwei.
> 
> This one was Prompt 57: “Just get home as soon as possible, okay?!”


End file.
